Reply to Nathan: How to reconstruct the causal argument

Nicholas Nathan tries to resist the current version of the causal argument for sense-data in two ways. First he suggests that, on what he considers to be the correct re-construction of the argument, it equivocates on the sense of proximate cause. Second he defends a form of disjunctivism, by claiming that there might be an extra mechanism involved in producing veridical hallucination, that is not present in perception. I argue that Nathan’s reconstruction of the argument is not the appropriate one, and that, properly interpreted, the argument does not equivocate on proximate cause. Furthermore, I claim that his postulation of a modified mechanism for hallucinations is implausibly ad hoc.     

Bases,spanning sets,and the axiom of choice

Two theorems are proved: First that the statement “there exists a field F such that for every vector space over F, every generating set contains a basis” implies the axiom of choice. This generalizes theorems of Halpern, Blass, and Keremedis. Secondly, we prove that the assertion that every vector space over ?₂ has a basis implies that every well‐ordered collection of two‐element sets has a choice function. (© 2007 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

R￣d中Hausdorff维数和packing维数的确定

本文目的在于建立确定Ｒ￣ｄ中Ｈａｕｓｄｏｒｆｆ维数ｄｉｍ和ｐａｃｋｉｎｇ维数Ｄｉｍ的两个命题（定理１和定理２），进而寻求Ｒ￣ｄ中Ｈａｕｓｄｏｒｆｆ维数ｄｉｍ与ｐａｃｋｉｎｇ维数Ｄｉｍ相等的条件；这使得我们能够引入分形测度的测度论定义。     

Molecular weight dependence of diblock copolymer segregation at a polymer/polymer interface

Utilizing forward recoil spectrometry (FRES), we have determined the segregation isotherm which describes the interfacial excess z_i^* of diblock copolymers of poly (d₈-styrene-b-2-vinylpyridine) (dPS-PVP) at the interface between the homopolymers PS and PVP as a function of ?_∞, the volume fraction of diblock copolymer remaining in the host homopolymer. All the samples were analyzed after annealing at temperatures and times sufficient to achieve equilibrium segregation. The effect of the degree of polymerization of both the diblock copolymers and the host homopolymers on the segregation isotherm is investigated. When the degree of polymerization of the homopolymer is much larger than that of the diblock copolymer, the normalized interfacial excess (z_i^*/R_g), where R_g is the radius of gyration of an isolated block copolymer chain, is a universal function of that portion of the block copolymer chemical potential due to chain stretching. The existence of such a universal function is predicted by theory and its form is in good agreement with self-consistent mean field calculations. Using these results, one can predict important aspects of the block copolymer segregation (e.g., the saturation interfacial excess) without recourse to the time-consuming numerical calculations. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Preparation of dye-loaded SiO2 nanoparticles

A room temperature method for the encapsulation of pyrene in SiO₂ nanoparticles is described. The relation between alkoxysilane surfactant chain length, reactant molar ratios and the uptake of dye, sample morphology, photophysical properties, and the ability of the silicate matrix to protect the encapsulated dye was examined. The synthesis can easily be adapted for the encapsulation of other hydrophobic and thermolabile substances, and used in the development of nanostructured optically active coatings, films and monoliths.     

Analysis of the spin exchange interactions of ferromagnetic CdVO3 in terms of first principles and qualitative electronic structure calculations

First principles spin-polarized electronic band structure calculations were carried out for three ordered spin states of CdVO₃, and the strengths of its corner- and edge-sharing spin exchange interactions were estimated. To gain insight into why CdVO₃ exhibits ferromagnetism while CaV₂O₅ does not despite their apparent structural similarity, the spin exchange interactions of CdVO₃ and CaV₂O₅ were compared in terms of spin dimer analysis using extended Hückel tight binding calculations, and the local geometries of their V⁴⁺ ions were examined.